Writer/director Michel Gondry is known for his visually stylistic music videos, advertising spots and films. He will often shoot stop-motion, but rather than using animation, he will use miniature sets made from different art media such as Legos. He has also written and drawn his own comic books. Through his website, Michel Gondry.com, you can purchase a personalized portrait sketched and autographed by him. Clicking the appropriate links from his site, a user is rerouted to Flickr.com and can view the numerous sketches of he made of his fans.

Gondry shot his film Be Kind, Rewind, in two weeks in the town of Passaic, New Jersey. The notion behind this film was to make a low-budget film using the scenery and the people of this town, as well as make a social commentary on how history is often overlooked but is essential part of a community. By using a narrative plot in which the two protagonists have to remake numerous films after the VHS in a rental store have been accidentally erased. As the demand for these quirky remakes escalates, the two men solicit help from members of their community. As the plot thickens, the community assembles to help save the site of the rental store, which itself is the historic landmark of jazz musician, Fats Waller (information which Wikipedia claims to be untrue).

The films are dubbed as “Sweded,” as in “they are a rare type of video that comes from a faraway, expensive country.” Since the protagonists are filming these remakes themselves, there are a limited number of movies that they can shoot in one day. Even the hardest of the town’s thugs enjoy these movies and end up watching films they wouldn’t have otherwise seen and, naturally, learn life lessons from these narratives. When the Sweded project grows too large, the protagonists encourage the community to Swede their own favorite movies and to make an original biopic of Fats Waller’s life in a meaningful story of their town.

Sweding (the act of making a Sweded film) is a way of inviting a fan into the authoring of a pre-existing narrative. First of all, Gondry is paying homage to the original film narratives by including them in his film. Secondly, the film sets up specific guidelines when a character wants a film Sweded: it has to be low budget, the film has to be made within the last 30 years, and it has to be kept between eight and ten minutes in length. Herein lies the opportunity for fans of Be Kind, Rewind to create their own Sweded film. As a promotional tie-in to the movie, there was a website in which fan-made Sweded movies were hosted. Even though this site is no longer active, this concept of Sweding has produced a YouTube channel dedicated to Sweded television shows, various websites hosting Sweded films, and an annual Sweded Film Festival held in Fresno.  Some of the sites that host Sweded movies are swededcinema.com, swededfilms.com, and swededmovies.org.  Gondry has also made a book, You’ll Like This Movie Because You’re in It: The Be Kind, Rewind Protocol, that discusses ” the appropriative and participatory practice ’sweding,’ which is to say, ‘putting you into the things you like’” (quote from editoral note on Amazon).

While the actual film, Be Kind, Rewind is a comedy, Gondry is also making a social commentary about the media industry in large and how, in this era of digitalization, it is hard to keep the fan at bay and by doing so, effectively eliminates today’s audience – which is an interactive one. Retelling/co-authoring and re/co-creating narratives is a way in which to keep storytelling interactive and even if it is something as silly as Sweding a film, it creates a space for community, human interaction, and the exchange of ideas.

Darth Vader?

…like when you’re making a stitchy remake of Star Wars: A New Hope using 472 15-second clips. Each done by a different person, and, of course, in a different style.

So far there are only 3 finished clips on the Star Wars: Uncut site. I have to say. I cannot wait until this is finished. I think I may even throw a viewing party for it.

Who’s with me!? (If you’re not with me, you’re against me.)

Have you ever seen Be Kind Rewind? If the answer is yes then you must have thought it was pretty cool making all those low budget versions of big blockbuster movies. Videopia is the only club that lets you do just that and all in one night out.

Started by Harry Knowles at the Notting Hill Arts Club, Videopia allows you to star in your favourite film, complete with costume, props and special effects, albiet very limited ones. So far the team have successfully “sweded” such cult classics as Back to the Future, E.T. and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. This month is was Ghostbusters and Cult Friction even took part in a few scenes. The nights popularity lies in its interacticity. Anyone can have a go if they want and the crowd love to see some of the more elaborate special effects scenes recreated in front of them. Whats more, if you and your friends have attempted a remake of a film then Videopia will be happy to screen it in front of a loving crowd.

Videopia is a sure fire hit and plans to continue over the summer with plans to film The Wizard of Oz and Jaws in the next few months. For more information on Videopia and to see some of their previous projects click here http://www.youtube.com/videopiauk

…with the real deal – so to speak – with Be Kind Rewind!

Directed by Michel Gondry and starring Jack Black and Mos Def, it’s a film about two guys living in a poor neighbourhood looking after a video store. Without going into too much detail, Jack Black manages to become magnetised and wipes all the video tapes. So to remedy that they decide to make their own versions of the films. It looks fun and is entertaining to watch the process whilst also saying to us at home, “You can do this too!”

It has set the challenge for anyone with an ounce of creativity in their nuggens to make the greatest swede, with the Be Kind Rewind Competition. Some of the entrants will be on here in the future but sometimes it’s fun to show the rubbish ones too, don’t you think? Don’t worry – I’ll give you a heads up.

Sweding is copying your favourite movie into 2 minutes or so of all the best bits. You condense it down by cutting out all the rubbish and leaving the key stuff for pure entertainment.

So to start off this blog of the good, the bad and the ugly….here is one of the master’s – Michael Gondry’s edition of the hit movie.

Esto es “sweding”. ¿Quieres saber que es “sweding”?
Tomas una cosa que te gusta y la mezclas con otra cosa que
te gusta y creas una cosa nueva.
No es lo que era, pero ahora es algo nuevo basado en la vieja
cosa. Es ponerte dentro de lo que te gusta, eso es sweding!

Hay una película que muero de ganas de ver, pero mi absoluta incapacidad para el pirateo (y el hecho de que aún no se estrenó en Argentina) no lo permitieron. Es Be Kind Rewind, de Michel Gondry, a la cual pertenece la frase que inicia este post.

La peli se trata de un empleado de un video club que accidentalmente borra todas las cintas del local. Para evitar que el dueño se entere, empieza a rehacer todas las películas, actuando él y un amigo. Asumen que las personas no se darán cuenta ya que no vieron la película original.

Cuando hace unos días leí el cuento Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote, no pude evitar trazar alguna relación entre aquel personaje y el sweding imaginado por Gondry. ” No quería componer otro Quijote —lo cual es fácil— sino el Quijote. Inútil agregar que no encaró nunca una transcripción mecánica del original; no se proponía copiarlo. Su admirable ambición era producir unas páginas que coincidieran ­palabra por palabra y línea por línea­ con las de Miguel de Cervantes”, escribe Borges.

Y sigue:

“No hay ejercicio intelectual que no sea finalmente inútil. Una doctrina es al principio una descripción verosímil del universo; giran los años y es un mero capítulo —cuando no un párrafo o un nombre— de la historia de la filosofía. En la literatura, esa caducidad es aún más notoria. (…) [Menard] resolvió adelantarse a la vanidad que aguarda todas las fatigas del hombre; acometió una empresa complejísima y de antemano fútil. Dedicó sus escrúpulos y vigilias a repetir en un idioma ajeno un libro preexistente. Multiplicó los borradores; corrigió tenazmente y desgarró miles de páginas manuscritas”.

Mis primeras reflexiones son un tanto obvias. En tiempo en que emergen nuevas formas de producción (como las demostradas por Wikipedia y el software libre), en la cual categorías como la autoría y la propiedad intelectual empiezan a borronearse, ¿cuáles son los alcances del sweding? ¿Cuántos Pierre Menard existen hoy en el mundo?

Cuando vea la peli lo sigo pensando.

Got 5 minutes? The below Station Conversation might take you longer than that to read. But if you’ve ever wanted to learn about a subject in a short time frame, Jill Weinberger and Liz Shannon Miller might have just the video for you.

Jill: So Liz. The Internet is weighing me down. Everything takes TOO LONG.

Liz: Seriously. It’s really done a number on my attention span, this Internet thing. I can handle about 5 minutes of anything these days, and then I got places to be and more media to consume.

Jill: I think some people vastly overestimate the amount of content in their content.

Liz: That’s really it. I could probably watch a romantic comedy in 10 minutes.

Jill: YES! So true.

Liz: It’s like, just let me know what the twists are, and let me watch the kissing, and I’m done.

Jill: You can throw in a couple of wacky bits of physical comedy if it’s really important to you. Something cute involving a hot dog vendor in Central Park, maybe. Just give me enough to be able to discuss it over a cocktail with the other saps who sat through the whole thing. They’re only gonna talk about the good bits anyway.

Basically, I just want life encapsulated as much as possible in tiny digestible online video segments so I can leave the house, save time and money, and go back to kicking my friends’ asses at Scramble. Perhaps I’ve shared too much. That sounds sad.

Liz: I was going to say that I wanted that so I could watch more online video. So really, it could be worse.

Jill: I have a challenge for you. Let’s find the best condensed video experiences and SHARE.

Liz: Ooh, yes! Whoever finds the bestest one gets a lifetime supply of sunless tanning lotion, so it LOOKS like you go outside!

Jill: Yes. I like it.

Liz: Okay, go.

Jill: Well, hot of the presses, there’s 100 Movie Spoilers in Five Minutes.

Liz: Oh, yes. Though I have to admit that it worries me — because what if they talk about a movie that I have not seen?

Jill: Well, that is why they put “spoilers” right there in the title. Besides, I’ve already forgotten whatever the hell they said about There Will Be Blood. Which is the only one I can even remember that was from a movie I hadn’t seen yet. Except maybe some of the Rockys.

Liz: Fair point. And certainly it’s little surprise that most romantic comedies end with Meg Ryan getting the guy. Even in movies Meg Ryan is not actually in.

Jill: To be fair, I won’t watch Battlestar Galactica in Five Minutes because I swear I’m going to Netflix the series any day now.

Liz: Yeah. Same with me and The Wire in Five Minutes.

Oh, wow. This one, I feel, is the most important public service any human being could do for another human being. Not that I’m prone to hyperbole or anything but behold The Star Wars Holiday Special in Five Minutes. Why is this the greatest thing to ever happen, you ask?

Jill: Why? I am nothing if not obliging.

Liz: Because watching The Star Wars Holiday Special is the most common example of self-inflicted torture to which drunk nerds are prone. Sure, it SOUNDS like fun to watch someone’s bootleg. And what the hell, it’s 1 a.m. and you’ll never get to the bar before last call.

Jill: But then you’re trapped with the cantina band and Bea Arthur with no means of escape.

Liz: And soon, Russian roulette with a fully-loaded gun sounds like fun.

Jill: You can also watch just about any musical in five minutes. Case in point: RENT. To be fair, you’re not going actually get any sense of what the hell RENT is about, but those guys are just fun.

The question is, do we just want condensed experiences of other media, or do we want fine instructional information as well? ‘Cause I’ve got videos here showing how to do everything from styling 40s hair to making bread in five minutes.

Liz: How do you make bread in five minutes?

Jill: Well, I’m not to the end, yet, but I think it’s safe to assume that the five minutes doesn’t include the baking. But, you know what? I’m halfway through, and I’m bored. I need a two-minute condensed version of the five-minute bread video.

Liz: I think the five-minute format is only really impressive when you’re compressing a very large amount of content into a small space.

Jill: We want, as William Goldman would call it, the Good Parts Version. Which is why somebody did The Princess Bride in 5 Minutes.

Liz: Nice.

Jill: But The Princess Bride in Five Minutes is actually a Swedeing rather than a reedit, a la Be Kind Rewind.

Liz: I actually like that comparison. Re-editing is kind of the lazy man’s Swedeing, which is appropriate, as these are videos for lazy people, by marginally less lazy people.

Jill: Wow. We must be the laziest people ever. Not only do we watch the lazy man’s version of Sweding, but we were so lazy it took us a whole conversation about condensing other media to remember that there is already an entire recent film release about this very subject.

Liz: Yeah. Maybe we should do a Station Conversation In Five Minutes abridgment.

Jill: Yeah, but I think our whole hook is our tendency to meander. Reduce us to five minutes and what have you got?

Liz: Liz: I am busy.

Jill: Jill: Me too.

Liz: Liz: Watching things is too hard.

Jill: Jill: Let’s watch shorter things.

Liz: Liz: Here is one.

Jill: Jill: Here is another.

Liz: Liz: LOLZ. Nerdy aside.

Jill: Jill: Agreement. That last one was less good. Derisive snark.

Liz: Liz: Agreement, followed by rambling paragraph cribbed mostly from the work of Henry Jenkins.

Jill: Jill: Rambling counterargument reflecting some random loosely-related philosophical bent.

Liz: Liz: Attempt at witty conclusion.

Jill: Jill: Ditto.

L’altra sera ho passato due orette piacevoli guardandomi “Be Kind Rewind”, film surreale firmato dal francese Michel Gondry, conosciuto soprattutto per il precedente “Se mi lasci ti cancello” (2004), con Jim Carrey e Kate Winslet.
Uscito nelle sale italiane a maggio, “Be Kind Rewind” racconta delle (dis)avventure di Mike, che lavora come commesso in un videonoleggio di sole videocassette (!!), e del suo amico Jerry. A seguito di un incidente improbabile, Jerry smagnetizza involontariamente tutte le VHS: come aiutare Mike a non perdere il posto? Semplice: basta girare in modo amatoriale i film che i (pochi) clienti richiedono di volta in volta. Si parte con Ghostbusters… Questo il risultato: tenetevi forte!!

Il lavoro di Mike e Jerry viene apprezzato, tanto che la strampalata coppia decide di continuare con lo “sweding”: così i due definiscono l’attività di creare remake amatoriali. Lungo l’elenco dei film taroccati: “Il Re Leone”, “Robocop”, “2001 Odissea nello spazio”, “Rush Hour 2”, “King Kong”, “Men in Black” e “Carrie, lo sguardo di Satana”. Secondo il classico schema di Propp, a interrompere il momento idillico interverranno alcune complicazioni ma il lieto fine è assicurato.

Perché parlo di “Be Kind Rewind”? Beh, perché suggerisce come risolvere la querelle tra Rai e Lega Calcio in merito alla diffusione in chiaro degli highlights delle partite del campionato 2008/09. Come noto, l’offerta della Rai (Mediaset è poco interessata) è stata giudicata insufficiente, per cui domenica la storica trasmissione radiofonica “Tutto il calcio minuto per minuto” non andrà in onda per la prima volta dopo decenni e le immagini delle partite dovranno passare all’interno del Tg della sera per non più di 4 minuti… Come può il buon Massimo De Luca, Direttore di Rai Sport, evitare di passare alla storia come l’orco capace di privare gli italiani del piacere dei goal domenicali senza cedere al ricatto economico della Lega Calcio? Semplice, assoldando squadre di amatori che mettano in scena, con tutti i limiti del caso, le azioni più significative delle singole partite. Qualcosa di simile era stato proposto anche in una delle prime stagioni di “Quelli che il calcio”, con ex calciatori diretti dal coach/coreografo Gigi Maifredi. Perché non riprovare? Con i soldi risparmiati si potrebbero acquistare i diritti di alcuni sport cosiddetti minori, ma meritevoli di maggior attenzione… Caro Massimo, dimostri un po’ di coraggio e di ironia!

The Apprentice

Sweet and silly, Be Kind Rewind, Michel Gondry’s fourth film (fifth if you count his 2005 documentary, Block Party) recounts the adventures of Mike (Mos Def) and his pal Jerry (Jack Black) as they recreate films from memory. When Mr. Fletcher, owner of the Be Kind Rewind video store, goes away for a week to a Fats Waller convention, he leaves Mike in charge of the store. Unfortunately, after a bizarre accident, Jerry becomes magnetized and consequently demagnetizes the store’s entire collection of VHS tapes (no DVDs here, folks). When number-one customer Miss Falewicz (Mia Farrow) asks for Ghostbusters, the pair are forced to create their own version from memory (along with help from local laundress Alma (Melonie Diaz)). Miss Falewicz’s nephew and his friends see the bizarre results and must have more, hence the birth of “sweding“–the process of remaking film favorites. The neighborhood citizens go crazy for the sweded films, clamoring for their own favorites to be made. By the end of the film, the entire neighborhood has moved beyond copying other people’s movies. Instead, they make their own film, the (kinda invented) biography of Fats Waller.

Be Kind Rewind is full of goofy fun laughs, and despite its lighthearted tone it never half-asses–or overplays–handling its dominant themes of creativity and community. Jack Black never overdoes it as Jerry, the zany paranoiac, and Mos Def is fantastic as the slightly anxious, slightly slow Mike (his version of Chris Tucker during the sweding of Rush Hour 2 is worth the price of admission alone). Danny Glover plays Mr. Fletcher poignantly, and the character comes to serve as a kind of elegiac totem for the death of highly-specialized local video shops with knowledgeable, cinephile-employees. Be Kind Rewind is a funny, giving film, and never self-indulgent; it moves the viewer without a trace of schmalz. Plus, it never drags. Highly recommended.

Be Kind Rewind is out on DVD today.

Definitie: iets van nul re-maken, gebruikmakend van alles wat je ook maar voorhanden hebt.

Wat kan je ‘sweden’ ? films, motorfietsen, sneakers, het internet…zowat alles is swedable.

Etymologie: uitgevonden door Jerry en Mike in hun ‘Be kind rewind’ videotheek in Passaic, New Jersey. Nadat al hun videocassetten ongewild gewist zijn door Jerry’s magnetische krachten, besluiten ze om de films uit hun videotheek opnieuw te maken. Ze noemen dit sweding, omdat ze voor de lange wachttijden en de hogere huurprijzen die ze voor de tapes aanrekenen, eerst als excuus gebruikten dat de films helemaal uit ‘Zweden’ moesten komen.

Dingen die handig kunnen zijn bij het ‘sweden’ :verschillende soorten papier, aluminium, pijpreinigers, sorrten stof (vb. vilt), plasticine, clips, lijm, schaar, poppen, speelgoed, pen, legoblokken,…

Zelf sweden? Handleiding: kijk op http://swededfilms.com/films.html

 >> Boeski

Gerade eine neue Kulturtechnik entdeckt. In Anschluß an Michel Gondrys letzten Film “Be Kind Rewind”, in dem Videotheksmitarbeiter aufgrund einer unabsichtlichen Totallöschung ihres Filmreservoirs dieses selbst neu verfilmen, erfreut sich das sogenannte Sweding bei YouTube großer Beliebtheit. Wird auch Zeit, dass diese Idee endlich wieder aufgegriffen wird, schließlich sind seit Jean Pauls Romanfigur, die beschließt, die Bücher, die sie sich nicht leisten kann, prompt selbst zu schreiben, schon einige Jahre vergangen (zu dumm, dass ich nicht mehr weiß, in welchem Roman… ihr?). Sweding ist natürlich etwas einfacher zu bewerkstelligen, dauert nicht so lange und ist zudem wesentlich geselliger.

Vielleicht sind mit dem Sweding (hinter dem ständigen Wiederholen dieses Wortes steckt selbstredend eine pädagogische Idee) auch endlich die leidigen Urheberrechtsfragen gelöst, obwohl ich mir da nicht so sicher bin, könnte doch die GEMA das Summen einer Filmmelodie als so eine Art Aufführung – schlimmer noch als Vorführung, wenn nicht gar Distribution – interpretieren.

Kulturelle Schlußfolgerungen zieht Alex Rühle bei sueddeutsche.de.

Mein vielleicht nicht Lieblingsfilmsweding, aber doch das Sweding meines Lieblingsfilms (resp. doch nicht wirklich meines Lieblingsfilms) ist das hier:

Starring:

Captain Jack Harkness – Ewan Spence
Gwen Cooper-Williams – Emma Persky
Rhys Williams – Matthew Cashmore
Owen Harper – Tom Morris
Toshiko Sato – Melinda Seckington
Ianto Jones – Dan W
Captain John – Cennydd Bowles
Red Shirt – David McBride
Weevil – Cristiano Betta
________________________________________________

Director – Emma Persky
Producer – Ewan Spence
Writer – Ewan Spence
Cinematography – The Monty Python Crew
Film Editing – Cristiano Betta
Casting – Melinda Seckington & Emma Persky
Art Direction – Cristiano Betta
Costume Design – Ewan Spence
Camera Man – Ant (Gone Solo)
Music Supervisor – Ewan Spence
Sound Effects – Melinda Seckington
Visual Effects – Cristiano Betta
Stunts – Tom Morris
Dolly Pusher – David McBride
Production Design – Emma Persky
Set Medic – Patricia Hanrahan
Best Boy – David McBride

________________________________________________

“Torchwood Main Theme”
Written and performed by Murray Gold

“Anything Goes”
Written by Cole Porter
Performed by John Barrowman

“All By Myself” - Written by Eric Carman
Performed by John Barrowman

________________________________________________

No animals were harmed in this production.

An Over The Air Production

From our dictionary: 

Sweding (swē-ding)         

1. To re-make something from scratch using whatever you can get your hands on.
2. Swede throwing.

Although swede throwing can be very entertaining, our blog is focused on the first definition. Recreating movies from scratch with whatever we can find, we bring the joy and hilarity of movie magic back to life.Born out of the mispronunciation of “sueding” (as in fake leather) by French director Michael Gondry, sweding’s roots lie firmly in the movie industry. Gondry coined the term for his film Be Kind Rewind, which had two friends sweding movies from a video rental shop after one of them accidentally wiped them all (because he was magnetized). Soon after the release of Be Kind Rewind, sweding took the world by storm, with geeks everywhere recreating their favourite movies.  So now you know what sweding is. Are you scared yet? Leave now or experience the awe and mystery that is… sweding. 

via The Underwire – Wired.com

from blog.wired.com posted with vodpod

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This amazing cardboard conversion of the imfamous “light cycle” sequence from the 80’s classic Tron was made by the very talented, and very crafty I might add, Freres-Hueon, a french filmmaker.

Many homebrewed big screen recreations have been popping up over the web lately, in homage to Michel Gondry’s new film Be Kind Rewind. These garage remakes are known as swedes.

Michel Gondry has ’sweded’ the Apple store.

Heavy.com has created video of senior citizens doing word-for-word reenactments of scenes of “The Hills.” [huffpo]

(Neg: The bumpers are too long and the ads are annoying.)

Michel Gondry’s new movie, Be Kind Rewind is making waves, and not just in the cinemas. A quick search in Youtube shows the growing popularity of “sweded” videos: cheap, homemade videos parodying/paying homage to popular movies, just like the characters in the movie (Jack Black and Mos Def) do. Sweded videos are characterised by tacky props, exaggerated acting and DIY soundtracks.

What exactly is sweding? This is taken from Be Kind Rewind’s Youtube channel:

Sweding is taking something you like and remaking it from scratch by mixing it with other things you like. You can use whatever you can get your hands on, everyday things and items like technology and stuff. Then when you’re finished you have a new thing, an awesome thing. It’s not the same as the thing it was, but a better thing based on the old thing.

It’s putting you into the thing you love – That’s Sweding.

So a Sweded movie is a re-imagining of your favourite film, trailer or scene, made lovingly by yourselves using anything that you might have at hand. It doesn’t matter if it’s short, in fact the shorter the better, it’s easier and funnier that way.

The cool thing about sweding is that pretty much anyone can do it, no one is expecting you to make something that is exactly like the original (in fact, it’s pretty boring if you do) and coupling that with people’s love for movies, it’s instantly a great idea. Heck, I feel like creating my own sweded video now.

Has this sweding phenomenon helped boost box office sales for the movie? Perhaps not. But will it inspire more user-generated content? I say yes, and rather happily too, because we can never get enough creativity in this world.

And I daresay that Michel Gondry had a more noble purpose when he decided to direct the movie – to inspire everyone to be able to make a film, and to make a film theirs, and then to share it with their friends. Ah, the beauty of the read write web…

Michel Gondry, on sweding:

“…how to make a movie with yourself, for yourself. Doesn’t have to be good, it’s not a competition …and if it works, then people can watch a new movie every month and have a party.”

Here’s Edward Scissorhands sweded. It’s pretty funny, and if you’re so inclined you can check out more videos on Youtube (notable mention for Terminator 2: Low Budgment Day)

[Thanks to E for telling me about this.]

The video is now also available in full HD, and we also uploaded some outtakes.